Recent headcounts indicate that 114,330 people are residing in Bentiu UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, while 25,968 people are living in the PoC and collective centres in Wau.
These numbers are down from the official biometric registration figures – 161,071 for Bentiu and 36,832 for Wau – counted in the last comprehensive verification exercises in 2016 and 2017 respectively, which have since only been updated to include small numbers of new arrivals and newborns.
It is difficult to account for those, who have left the sites, on the biometric register without carrying out a full verification exercise, as people do not usually alert camp management when they leave permanently.
Multiple escalations in the conflict in South Sudan since its outbreak in 2013 have caused more than 4 million people to flee their homes.
Over half of the displaced fled into neighbouring Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
However, nearly 1.9 million people are estimated to be displaced within South Sudan’s borders.
Most (nearly 90 percent) live within host communities, rather than displacement sites.
Others live in small displacement sites known in the South Sudanese context as collective centres.
The remaining group of the displaced population live on or adjacent to UNMISS bases where they sought protection during the conflict.
The PoC sites, which are unique to South Sudan, are located in Bor, Bentiu, Juba, Malakal and Wau.
IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) collects key data on displacement and migration in South Sudan to inform the humanitarian community’s interventions.
In displacement sites, they conduct biometric registration and headcounts to gauge population size.
Biometric registration involves scanning/recording a person’s thumb prints and recording relevant personal details.